Dow Ends Higher After AmEx Surprise

Stocks pulled off a gain — barely — as investors cheered earnings surprises from American Express and others amid an underlying buzz of anxiety about the economy.

This came a day after stocks eked out a gaindespite a crushing wave of layoffs that saw more than 70,000 jobs plucked from the economy in just one day.

Investors got some earnings surprises before the bell but they were quickly quashed by a report soon after the open that showed consumer confidence fell to a record low in January.

"Consumers remain quite pessimistic about the state of the economy," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Research Center, said in a statement.

But stocks chugged higher again and financials led the Dow pack: American Express shot up 9.7 percent, Bank of America gained 8.3 percent and Citigroup rose 6.6 percent.

Citigroup had steadily moved higher today but shot up after CEO Vikram Pandit reiterated his plan to slash costs. Speaking at a Citigroup financial-services conference in New York, Pandit said he plans to slash expenses to $32 billion, down 15 percent from last year.

General Electric shares gained 5 percent. After the bell, Moody's said it was putting GE on reviewfor a possible downgrade to its credit rating from triple-A. GE is the parent of CNBC.

Among other market buzz: Tim Geithner was confirmed as Treasury secretary in a Senate vote late Monday and vowed to act quickly in the face of the financial crisis. William Dudley will succeed Geithner as the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the NY Fed said Tuesday.